A strange "siren" noise which woke up residents around the Stanwell and Ashford areas during the early hours sparked a social media guessing game on Tuesday.

The mysterious droning sound started after midnight and lasted for at least an hour into the morning.

Some sleep-deprived Twitter users were concerned the ominous sound heralded a nuclear attack, or that it was an alarm from Feltham Young Offenders Institution - others suggested, more realistically, that the noise was coming from the nearby Esso fuel depot.

What people said on Facebook

"Me and my husband were woken up by it and searched the garden thinking a toy may have been left on"

"Could it be one of the alarms frequently heard by people living around the Charlton Village tip where they are building the incinerator that no-one wanted?"

"It was dreadful... very irritating noise"

"It drove me mad, I couldn't get back to sleep!"

'Not really a police matter'

After receiving six or seven calls about it between 1.30am and 2.30am - plus countless more messages from social media users - a Surrey Police spokesperson said: "The noise seems to have been coming from the direction of the fuel depot in Bedfont Road in Stanwell.

"We've contacted the depot but have yet to hear back.

"It was a siren noise more than an alarm and it’s not really a police matter but we know there was lots of social media [posts] about it.”

Another resident Russell Brittle has contacted Get Surrey revealing he was wondering about the alarm going off at Heathrow until 2am.

He captured this video from his address in Ashford Crescent, Ashford.

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Posting on Facebook, Shamus Doherty said a neighbour had received an email from a Metropolitan Police officer, which read: "I am unaware of the alarm myself so have contacted the oil terminal.

"Last night there was a false alarm at the terminal. This alarm sounded for longer than is usual and I understand this is being addressed.

"Apparently if you are a local resident you may well receive information/an apology about it in due course from the terminal."

Esso also subsequently confirmed that the noise had indeed originated from its site off Bedfont Road.